Method and system for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize

ABSTRACT

Method for determining prizewinning status and awarding a prize. Most consumer marketing programs which employ a sweepstakes mechanism with prizes depend on game pieces preprinted with codes or words to signify prizewinning status. Furthermore, if such status is determined to be “winning” the holder of the game piece must still physically mail the game piece in for verification before the corresponding prize is awarded. The game pieces themselves are subject to duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraud. The number of winners in such programs depends on the number of prizes, the number of game pieces, the flow of the game pieces into distribution, and the number of participants. The method provided herein eliminates the opportunity for fraud associated with game pieces, simplifies the calculation of the number of winnres, and increases the efficiency of determining prizewinning status and awarding prizes.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/504,323, entitled METHODS FORDETERMINING PRIZE WINING STATUS AND AWARDING A PRIZE filed Sep. 19,2003, and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to sweepstakes, and morespecifically to a method for determining prizewinning status andawarding prizes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is a common practice in advertising and marketing to run sweepstakesmarketing programs with prizes in order to help increase sales ofconsumer products, food and beverage products, or consumer packagedgoods. This is typically done by adding game pieces, codes, and/orsweepstakes details to the packaging of such products. Each game pieceis typically preprinted with codes or words which tell the customerwhether they are a winner or not. The problems associated with thesetypes of marketing programs are widely known in the industry. Theseinclude duplication, forgery, manipulation, and other forms of fraudrelated to the game pieces themselves. Other problems include thechallenge of calculating and reporting accurate odds of winning and thenumber of winners because it depends on the number of prizes, the numberof game pieces, the flow of product into distribution during thepromotional period, and the number of total participants in the program.For example, in a widely publicized scandal that cost McDonald'sCorporation nearly $20 million, an employee of the company thatadministered McDonald's Monopoly Game and Sweepstakes in 2001 was caughtstealing winning game pieces and having family members claim the prizes,including the grand prize. This was possible because all of the prizewinning statuses—e.g. “you have won a prize” were printed on the gamepieces. Although standard security precautions are taken, such fraud isstill eminently possible when the prize winning message is printed onthe game piece and the game piece itself is to be mailed in as the proofof such winning.

In another example, McDonald's 2003 Best Chance Game was so popular thatMcDonald's ran out of the 250 million game pieces printed for theprogram well before the end of the promotional period, as stated in therules. Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes were printed onthe game pieces themselves, McDonald's could not print and makeavailable any additional game pieces because that would change the oddsof the entire game, as stated in the rules.

In yet another example, Pepsi's iTunes promotion with Apple Computer in2004 proved to be a major disaster when it was discovered that customerscould easily tell if the bottle was not a winner, simply by tilting the20 oz. bottle to a 20 degree angle to reveal part of the phrase “pleasetry again” underneath the bottle cap. The winning bottle caps wereprinted with a claim code which could be used to claim a free iTunesdownload. Again, because prizewinning statuses and prizes (the claimcodes) were printed on the bottle caps, the program was easilycompromised and thus rendered completed useless with respect to theobjective of the program, which is typically to incentivize customers tomake more purchases.

Further, the process of determining and proving prizewinning status isoften laborious and inefficient, involving steps such as mailing-in gamepieces for validation, looking up winning game piece codes against adatabase of winning codes, and others. Even the awarding of the prize isinefficient, often requiring the administrator of the program to sendthe prize to the winner by postal mail or otherwise deliver by hand.

Finally, the problem of irretrievability is inherent to any sweepstakesprogram where prizewinning statuses and prizes are printed onto gamepieces or items of product. Specifically, this means, once the gamepieces or products are distributed into circulation they cannot beretrieved easily. Thus the liability for all of the prizes associatedwith all of the winning game pieces and products remains with theadministrator of the marketing program because the administrator willhave 1) no way of knowing whether a winning game piece was discarded,destroyed, or still “in play” and 2) no way of marking the game piecesas no longer valid. The program administrator must wait until the end ofthe promotional period and the end of the game, which could be manymonths later, depending on how many months are allocated forprizewinners to claim their prizes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide amethod and system for determining prizewinning status and awarding aprize.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the method 10 for determining prizewinningstatus using a code obtained from an item, such as a consumer product.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the method 20 for determining prizewinningstatus using a code not obtained from an item.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A method 10 for determining prizewinning status begins when a code,typically a number or alphanumeric string, is obtained from an item suchas a consumer product. The code is entered online by the individualconsumer at a website specified in the sweepstakes instructions. Oncethe code is received it is validated to be a genuine code that wasinitially applied by the manufacturer of the product to the game piece,product packaging, or the product itself If the code is valid, a requestis sent to a third party through a network. The third party whichreceives such requests replies with a random number or an equivalentrepresentation of said random number, such as an alphanumeric string. Ifthis random number sent in reply matches one or more digits of the codeentered by the consumer in accordance with the parameters of themarketing program, a determination is instantly made of prizewinningstatus. This determination can follow any logic—such as if the replymatches the code, then the status is “winner” or if specific digits ofthe reply matches the code, then the status is “winner.” Theprizewinning status is never known prior to that moment in time when thevalid code from the item is matched against the random number generatedand returned by the third party. Then, if necessary, additionalinformation may be collected from the consumer. This information may beused in selecting the prize that corresponds to the winning status.Finally, the prize is awarded. In a preferred embodiment, the prize isawarded instantly by displaying it or information related to itimmediately to the consumer. If the prize is a cash prize, a credit cardor debit card number is displayed on-screen along with information suchas expiration date so that the customer has the instant gratification ofreceiving their prize and being able to spend it rather than having tomail in a game piece and wait for a paper check to be mailed to them.

A method 20 for determining prizewinning status begins when a customeris notified of a sweepstakes program by standard advertising andmarketing methods. The customer goes online to the specified website orsends an email to the specified email address to request a unique codefor the game, typically a number or alphanumeric string. The code andother information, such as information about the customer, is enteredonline by the individual consumer at a website specified in thesweepstakes instructions. At that time, a request is sent to a thirdparty through a network. The third party which receives such requestsreplies with a random number or an equivalent representation of saidrandom number, such as an alphanumeric string. If this random numbersent in reply matches one or more digits of the code entered by theconsumer in accordance with the parameters of the marketing program, adetermination is instantly made of prizewinning status. Thisdetermination can follow any logic—such as if the reply matches thecode, then the status is “winner” or if specific digits of the replymatches the code, then the status is “winner.” The prizewinning statusis never known prior to that moment in time when the code is matchedagainst the random number generated and returned by the third party.Then, if necessary, additional information may be collected from theconsumer. This information may be used in selecting the prize thatcorresponds to the winning status. Finally, the prize is awarded. In apreferred embodiment, the prize is awarded instantly by displaying it orinformation related to it immediately to the consumer. If the prize is acash prize, a credit card or debit card number is displayed on-screenalong with information such as expiration date so that the customer hasthe instant gratification of receiving their prize and being able tospend it rather than having to mail in a game piece and wait for a papercheck to be mailed to them.

In this way, the invention eliminates fraud related to game piecesbecause duplicated, forged, or otherwise manipulated game pieces cannever be fraudulently used to prove prizewinning status. The odds ofprizewinning and the number of winners will no longer be dependent onthe following variables: 1) number of prizes, 2) the number of gamepieces, and 3) the number of participants in the marketing program.Further, customers will instantly and absolutely know their prizewinningstatus without having to mail in any game piece as proof. And finally,prizes are awarded instantly to the prizewinner without requiring thecustomer to mail in a game piece and wait to receive the prize in themail.

Although the invention has been described in detail in the foregoingembodiments, it is to be understood that the descriptions have beenprovided for purposes of illustration only and that other variationsboth in form and detail can be made thereupon by those skilled in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, whichis defined solely by the appended claims.

1. A method for determining a prizewinning status and awarding a prize,comprising: receiving a code and validating the code.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, the prizewinning status including at least one of: winning,non-winning, winning a predetermined prize, winning a non-predeterminedprize, winning a prize dependent on other information, and winning aprize not dependent on other information.
 3. The method of claim 1, thereceiving including at least one of: receiving through a network,receiving through a device, receiving on an item, receiving in an item,receiving on a container of an item, receiving with an item, receivingin accordance with an act, receiving wirelessly, and receiving through amedium.
 4. The method of claim 1, the code including at least one of: anumber, an alphanumeric string, a code, a symbol, a barcode, a picture,a sequence, and an indication.
 5. The method of claim 1, the validatingincluding at least one of: validating by comparing, validating bycalculating, validating by matching, and validating by lookup
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: sending a request to athird-party.
 7. The method of claim 6, the request including at leastone of: a request for a number, an alphanumeric string, a code, asymbol, a barcode, a picture, a sequence, and an indication.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a reply to the requestfrom the third-party.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining the prizewinning status using the reply to the request andthe code in accordance with a commercial program.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: collecting information.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, the information including at least one of: demographicinformation, personal information, confidential information, purchaseinformation, product information, transaction information, retailerinformation, date and time information, and survey information.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: selecting a prize.
 13. The methodof claim 12, the prize including at least one of: cash, product,service, discount, rebate, information, and entertainment.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: awarding the prize.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, the awarding including at least one of: displayingthe prize, displaying information corresponding to the prize, displayinginformation corresponding to a credit or debit account corresponding tothe prize, displaying information corresponding to a discount,displaying information corresponding to a rebate, creating anddelivering the prize, requesting and delivering the prize, deliveringthe prize through a network, delivering the entertainment, anddelivering the prize to an address provided by the prizewinner.
 16. Amethod for determining a prizewinning status and awarding a prize,comprising: obtaining a code and submitting the code to a third party.17. The method of claim 16, the obtaining including at least one of:obtaining on an item, obtaining in an item, obtaining on a container ofan item, obtaining with an item, obtaining in accordance with an act,obtaining through a network, obtaining through a device, obtainingwirelessly, and obtaining through a medium.
 18. The method of claim 16,further comprising: receiving from the third party a prizewinningstatus.
 19. The method of claim 18, the receiving including at least oneof: receiving through a network, receiving through a device, receivingcontemporaneous to the submitting, receiving at another time after thesubmitting, receiving on an item, receiving in an item, receiving on acontainer of an item, receiving with an item, receiving in accordancewith an act, receiving wirelessly, and receiving through a medium. 20.The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving from the thirdparty a prize.